Wood chippings

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pete f

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Wood chippings
« on: August 02, 2022, 22:25 »
Hi I am moving allotments and my new one has previously had a lot of wood chippings (which our council supply) added two years ago and not grown anything since. My question is will the soil need any special treatment before I start to use it. Or should I just dig it in and get growing.

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Blewit

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Re: Wood chippings
« Reply #1 on: August 03, 2022, 06:10 »
I wouldn't dig it in, any pieces that aren't decomposed will borrow nitrogen from the soil while they rot down. You could part the surface mulch and plant direct into the soil below (it should be really soft after two years of being covered) but with wood chips I found working like this the plants really needed / benefited from a sprinkling of BFB or chicken manure pellets at time of planting.
Mulching with wood chips was bought to the fore by a chap called Paul Gautschi - who named it The Back To Eden Method. What most folk miss when going down the BTE route is Paul uses chips that are about three years old and then he passes them through his large chicken run (where they mix with the droppings) before being spread on his growing beds.
If you're not intending to run the plot as no-dig it'd pay you to rake off as many of the big bits of wood as you can.

Edit to say - the raked up chippings would make good paths between your beds. Worms love it and as the paths decompose they'll add nutrients to the soil. Wood chip paths can be walked on at any time of year without damaging the soil structure below.
« Last Edit: August 03, 2022, 06:20 by Blewit »

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rowlandwells

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Re: Wood chippings
« Reply #2 on: August 03, 2022, 14:58 »
basically Blewit is correct in what he's saying we use fresh chippings on our pathways only and not on growing beds I don't know if sowing green manure would bring the ground back to a good growing media because I swear by green manure to improve the soil for  putting  back humus in the ground but that's me some may not agree

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Ema

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Re: Wood chippings
« Reply #3 on: August 07, 2022, 08:04 »
 There’s a great video on wood chip mulch that came out recently, you have to get past the accents  :D


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iC7GQHp9-8Q

Edit to fix link
« Last Edit: August 07, 2022, 08:51 by New shoot »

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Subversive_plot

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Re: Wood chippings
« Reply #4 on: August 08, 2022, 10:38 »
There’s a great video on wood chip mulch that came out recently, you have to get past the accents  :D


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iC7GQHp9-8Q

Edit to fix link

Accents?  What accents?  :unsure:
"Somewhere between right and wrong, there is a garden. I will meet you there."~ Rumi



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